The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), proposes to continue the implementation of the Initiative for Minority Student Development (IMSD)--the "UCSF Biomedical Science Research Career Enhancement Program." This program strongly promotes excellence in scholarship and research career preparation of underrepresented minority students pursuing the Ph.D. degree in biomedical and health sciences. University of California public institutions of higher education seek to provide access to graduate education to students from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Though cost of attendance is relatively low, public universities do not have sufficient resources to provide adequate subsistence support for graduate students. Disadvantaged students are particularly adversely affected by this fiscal situation, which contributes to the low numbers of underrepresented minority students in Ph.D. programs. The proposed IMSD program enables UCSF to ensure underrepresented minority students sufficient financial, academic, intellectual, and social support to achieve both excellence while graduate students and when seeking research career positions in the biomedical and health sciences. Program components include mentored research assistantships combined with other funding to achieve an optimal availability, continuity, and mix of graduate student support; intensive academic mentorships provided by faculty members; and academic and social support to prevent student isolation and/or marginalization. The program aims to promote cross-disciplinary learning; critical thinking; enhancement of research skills; close attention from faculty members regarding academic progress and career planning; linkages with a national scientific community; and development of skills not normally included in graduate curricula--such as training in research grant development and administration, resource management, scientific writing and publishing, oral presentation of findings, preparation of the curriculum vitae, and career planning skills. The overall goal is to ensure timely completion of graduate studies with the highest degree of excellence and academic success, and to foster biomedical and health science research careers in which graduates advance to leadership positions as independent investigators, career educators, and contributors to the permanent literature.